1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shooting game apparatus for performing a shooting game in three-dimensional graphic images with a rear viewpoint, a method of performing such a shooting game, and a computer-readable recording medium which stores a control program of such a shooting game.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some shooting game apparatus display a player's maneuverable object, such as a spaceship or the like, in flight in a long perspective image representing a flight confinement range such as a large tubular structure. While in a shooting game, other objects such as meteorites and enemy's spaceships appear in front of and attack the player's spaceship. The game player operates the shooting game to shoot a laser beam or a missile to destroy those other objects or targets. The shooting game is finished when the player's spaceship is hit a predetermined times by enemy's spaceships.
FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings schematically shows a longitudinal section of a perspective image representing a flight confinement range, which is displayed on the display screen of a conventional shooting game apparatus. FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings shows the displayed perspective image as viewed at a sectional plane B--B of FIG. 8 from a rear viewpoint. The perspective image shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display screen in front of the game player.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, while a player's spaceship 93 is in flight along a perceptive line 92 in a perspective image 91 representing a flight confinement range, the game player operates an analog joystick (not shown) to move the player's spaceship 93 vertically and horizontally to a desired position in the perspective image 91. When the game player presses a shooting switch on the joystick, a laser beam or a missile is shot forward from the player's spaceship 93.
When an enemy's spaceship 94, which is a target to be shot at, appears in front of the player's spaceship 93, the game player operates the joystick to move the player's spaceship 93 to a position in the sectional plane B--B which corresponds vertically or horizontally to a position in the perspective image 91 of the enemy's spaceship 94 in a sectional plane A--A of FIG. 8, and then presses the shooting switch to shoot a laser beam or a missile.
Since objects in the perspective image 91 look smaller farther into the perspective image 91 or the flight confinement range, if the enemy's spaceship 94 is spaced farther from the player's spaceship 93, then the enemy's spaceship 94 becomes smaller and closer to the vanishing point at the center of the perspective image 91. Therefore, the game player finds it more difficult to aim at the enemy's spaceship 94. Furthermore, because the game player sees the player's spaceship 93 obliquely from behind it, it is difficult for the game player to align the player's spaceship 93 with the enemy's spaceship 94 in the distant position, and to hit the enemy's spaceship 94 with a laser beam or a missile.
An enemy's spaceship 94 may appear relatively closely to the player's spaceship 93 in a peripheral area of the perspective image 91. If the game player needs to aim at the enemy's spaceship 94 in such a dogfight, then since the game player can only aim in a narrow range where a laser beam or a missile is shot toward the vanishing point, the game player finds it difficult to aim at the enemy's spaceship 94 that appears in the peripheral area of the perspective image 91.